Daddy's Little Darling (Montana Daddies 2)

“Umm, yes?” She hadn’t meant for it to come out as a question.

He stepped back and the loss of his touch chilled her. She wrapped her arms around herself.

“Sorry,” he told her gruffly. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

She wanted to ask why he had and why he now regretted it. Was it because she hadn’t been any good? She hadn’t liked kissing Brian; he’d been too rough and he would jab his tongue into her mouth until she wanted to gag. But when Clint kissed her, holy hell, it was like her body came alive.

But she didn’t ask, because she didn’t think she could handle his answer. Scared. Like usual.

“You sure you’re all right?” he asked her again.

“I’m fine,” she lied.

His gaze narrowed and she stiffened. Shit. Could he tell she was lying? To her surprise, he didn’t say anything, just turned towards the door. That was it? He was really leaving? Without any explanation? Without saying anything more?

Then he stilled. Turned back. Great. He was finally going to say something about that kiss. “Oh, and little girl?”

“Yes?”

“It’s also not a good idea to stick your tongue out at me the minute my back is turned.”

That wasn’t what she’d been expecting. Or hoping for. Wait. How had he known she’d done that earlier? Or was he just guessing?

He still didn’t leave. She felt the ridiculous urge to ask him to stay. What was wrong with her? She was used to being on her own. In places far less nice than this one.

He studied her with concern. “You’ll be all right on your own?”

“I’m always on my own.”

He frowned. “You get scared then you call me. You can stay at the main house.”

And be even closer to him? She didn’t think so. She didn’t want to push temptation.

“I’ll be fine.”

He just grunted but didn’t argue. Thank God. Once this man made up his mind, she was pretty certain it would be impossible to change it. “That reminds me. Give me your phone. I forgot to put our numbers in.”

She pulled it out of her back pocket and handed it over. He quickly added in some numbers. “You call me if you need me,” he told her, handing it back. “And plug that in straight away, I don’t want to see you with a phone that’s close to running out of charge again.”

“The battery doesn’t last long,” she explained. It was a piece of crap that often froze on her, but she couldn’t afford a new one.

He left without saying anything more. She waited until he was on the other side of the door before she gave him a salute. Then she quickly locked the door and slumped back against it. She studied her new home. Even though it was temporary, it felt like she’d won the lottery.

Strange though this place might be, it could very well be the break she’d been hoping for.

7

What had seemed like her big break a few days ago, was becoming somewhat of a nightmare. She now knew why Clint had warned her that life on the ranch wasn’t easy. Not that she didn’t love it here. She did. The people were friendly. Well, most of them. Allan still hadn’t warmed to her. She snorted. Warm to her? He watched her constantly, didn’t bother to respond when she asked him something and basically treated her like dog poo on his boot. But everyone else was nice. There was always someone around to lend a hand if she needed something. Not that she usually had to ask. The first day her alarm had woken her at four a.m. and by the time she’d gotten up and dressed someone had been knocking at her door to escort her over to the kitchen.

She’d been disappointed it wasn’t Clint. But she couldn’t expect him to escort her around. He had more important things to do. When she’d returned to the cabin after lunch, she’d found a stack of firewood on the porch ready for her to use.

She’d only just started to shut the door behind her when someone knocked on it. She’d opened it cautiously, wondering if it would be Clint on the other side.

More like she’d been hoping it would be.

But when she opened the door, a tiny woman stood on the other side. Her dark, curly hair was pulled back in a high ponytail that was off to one side. She was dressed in a bright pink jacket that went down to her knees, jeans and pink gumboots with pictures of daisies on them.

“I love your gumboots,” she told her immediately.